benefit
Meaninga good deed
Common meaning: an advantage
Other meanings: to do good to
- benewellLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 229 · scan
- fitto make; to cause to happenLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 716 · scan
‘well’ + ‘to make’ → benefit
Journey through time
- bene — Latin bene “well” (path traced)
- fit — Latin faciō, fēcī, factum “to make; to cause to happen” (path traced)
Parts join in Old French as bienfer.
- Latinbene + faciō, fēcī, factum‘well + to make’
- Old Frenchbienfersource
- Middle Englishbienfetsource
- Englishbenefit‘an advantage’ · today
bene also in: benefactorbenevolentbenediction
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin bene ‘well’ + Latin faciō ‘to make; to cause to happen’.
Did you know (Benefit, benefactor, effect,…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry faciō, p. 716 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Latin bene, well,…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry bene, p. 229 · dictionary scan
Roots
- bene Latin “well”
- faciō, fēcī, factum Latin “to make; to cause to happen”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app